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Nazareth set to unveil the Jane and Laurence Glazer Music Performance Center

Exterior of the new Music Performance Center.
Nazareth College
Exterior of the new Music Performance Center.

After more than a year of construction, Nazareth College is getting ready to take the wraps of its new Jane and Laurence Glazer Music Performance Center.

The $15.5 million facility is located adjacent to the Nazareth College Arts Center, and it includes a 550-seat venue designed specifically for the acoustics of large instrumental ensembles.

Rita Mannelli is the Executive Director for the Arts Center.  She says having the new building is important because nearly 20 percent of the Nazareth College student body are in the Department of Music.

“A lot of Nazareth students, both as majors, minors, and non-majors participate in our large ensembles, so it will give them really a new laboratory to practice and perfect their art.”

Rose Marie and John Beston Hall
Credit Nazareth College
Rose Marie and John Beston Hall

She says the main space in the Center, the Rose Marie and John Beston Hall, provides state-of-the-art technology in terms of acoustics.

“It’s a very quiet space, a lot was done to make sure that any outside noise was kept outside so all you really hear is the sound of the music. There are curtains and doors that you can open and close, which actually changes the reverberation time and the volume of the space.”

Nazareth College President Daan  Braveman says that entrepreneurs and philanthropists Jane and Larry Glazer, "were visionaries for building a better Rochester." Jane Glazer was also a graduate of the college. The Glazers died in a crash involving their private plane in 2014.

Main lobby of Glazer Music Performance Center
Credit Nazareth College
Main lobby of Glazer Music Performance Center

Although there will be a grand opening for the new music performance center on September 22nd, Mannelli says there will be a “soft opening” next week when students return to campus so that they can use the facility.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.